911 recordings, transcripts sealed in Pollard case

Leslie Pollard (Rochester Police photo)

Karen Pollard

ROCHESTER - The police dispatch recording of Rochester Economic Development Director Karen Pollard the night her husband was arrested in a hit-and-run accident while driving drunk has been sealed.
The decision to seal both the digital voice recording and the written transcript was made to ensure a fair trial for the accused and a more productive investigative environment for police and prosecutors, it was explained by County Attorney Thomas P. Velardi on Monday.
The Lebanon Voice last week filed a Right to Know request with the City Manager’s Office to have the items released to the press, prompting Velardi’s response.
Leslie W. Pollard, 51, of 17 Hemlock St., in Rochester, was arrested early on Dec. 30 after he is alleged to have been driving drunk when he struck a 28-year-old Rochester woman as she walked on Lowell Street near the Revolution Church a little before 11:30 on Dec. 29, a Sunday night.
Pollard, who is being represented by lawyer Stephen Jeffco P.A. of Portsmouth, waived his Monday arraignment and will now face a probable cause hearing next month in Rochester District Court. He is charged with felony conduct after an accident and a misdemeanor DWI.
Karen Pollard was in the car at the time of the incident, and was the one who called police about five minutes after the initial 911 call came in from a Good Samaritan who had stopped to help the injured woman.
According to a Rochester Police log entry on Dec. 29, the call from the Good Samaritan came in at 11:27 p.m., followed five minutes later by Karen Pollard’s call in which, according to dispatch transcripts, she said “they may have hit something in the roadway.”
The Pollards’ home on Hemlock Street is just a short distance from the Revolution Church at 87 Lowell St.
The injured woman was taken to Frisbie Memorial Hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries to her shoulder, and released. A source has told The Lebanon Voice that the shoulder injury was due to it hitting the windshield of Pollard’s car, a black 2011 Ford Taurus registered to him. The source said the impact caused significant damage to the windshield. The source did not wish to reveal their name, but the source’s identity has been verified by The Lebanon Voice.
In his written denial of the request made by The Lebanon Voice, Velardi said, in part, “I believe that releasing the requested materials at this time would create adverse consequences for law enforcement as well as the accused as release (1) could reasonably be expected to interfere with on-going enforcement proceedings and (2) would deprive the accused of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication.”
In the arrest complaint, it is alleged that Pollard knowingly “was involved in an accident, which resulted in personal injury …”
Police impounded the vehicle Leslie Pollard was driving the night of the incident, and have also not ruled out additional charges in the case.
Pollard remains free on $5,000 personal recognizance bail.